Dear Lata and DD
colleagues,
I absolutely agree
with your points and the rest of remarks made by the colleagues of
WDDM.
I wish to inform you
that we begun last March in Prague this pan-European DD Alliance
under the name “Direct Democratic Euro-Vision” (DD E-V) , our
works have been continued this month in Athens and the WDDM Newsletter,
edited by Jiri Polak is now mainly focused on European aspects, as
those mentioned by you!
Please have a a look
at:
www.theeuropeandemocrat.blogspot.com
and write us if you
and other colleagues wish to join our efforts!
I think we all agree
in almost everything!
Best regards
George L.
Kokkas
Direct
Democratic Euro-Vision &
N.G.O Forum for Citizens’ Democracy
Ippokratous str. 42 – GR-10680 Athens
Greece
Tel.: +30 2103648300
- Fax: +30 2103610882
demopoli(at)otenet.gr
www.dimopolis.gr
From:
Lata Gouveia [latalondon(at)yahoo.co.uk]
Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2009
3:41 AM
To: wddm@world-wide-democracy.net
Subject: Re: [WDDM] Re:
GlobalDemo.org now ready...
Hi Hamid,
The idea is good. I believe in guys like you, Antonio, David Parker and a few
others. I believe you are motivated enough to really DO something.
I think there is a big critical mass problem. The numbers are not on our side.
Even petitions with hundreds of thousands of signatories don't get much joy
from our elected representatives and our institutions... even at local level,
let alone the UN.
That's why I believe we have to turn the DD movement into something with mass
appeal and real grassroots backing, otherwise it will always be the same ten
guys on here discussing the finer points of ethics or some obscure academic
work that can never create a real movement.
Unfortunately, movements tend to need a figure head, a charismatic leader,
which goes completely against the principle of trying to erode representation
in favour of a more direct form of democracy. We need a marketing genious to
help us.
I actually think that the EU provides a very good opportunity at this point in
history. People are genuinely concerned with the democratic deficit within it
and, at the same time, its constitutional framework is still evolving, there
will be more treaties. We could actually sneak in... whilst it's fresh in
people's minds.
I really think that the creation of an EU grassroots political party aimed at
Direct Representation in the EP and based on the objective of gradual
constitutional reform towards participatory democracy could really gain
momentum now. They already have an inside plan in the Lisbon Treaty that
allowes for a citizen initiative programme... but it's probably cosmetic,
All we need is to recruit national representatives in the 27 countries, create
a manifesto that appeals to a reasonably sized slice of the population (if you
go too radical you lose everything) and then to start recruiting membership.
The European Party For Real Democracy would grow exponentially right now.
We would have to play by their rules and have "representatives", but
our internal rules could dictate that they are in fact spokespeople and cannot
make decisions without the approval of the membership base, so that in fact, if
we had 30 MEPs, they would have to submit the EP legislation to the wider
membership of hundreds of thousands and would have to vote the way the membership
tells them to, according to internal democratic voting mechanisms. This is
where I think weighed voting could prevent knee-jerk mob-like behaviour... but
that's another story.
There will never be a better chance. Pretty soon we will all feel the weight of
new internet censorship laws, under the guise of protection from the bad
guys... so, time is of the essence. If they have their way, pretty soon we will
not be able to discuss this kind of thing without being tracked, black listed,
etc.
All those in favor of this, please respond, elaborate upon these ideas. Lets
get practical. It does not matter if you don't live in the EU because it's just
another branch of a global government, every human being has a legitimate stake
in this. It might become increasingly dangerous though....there are people
willing to kill to stop something like that from happening. I even feel
paranoid writing this...
What say you all?
From: Esi
<esi1mohseni2(at)hotmail.com>
To: wddm@world-wide-democracy.net
Sent: Tuesday, 27 October, 2009
17:55:19
Subject: Re: [WDDM] Re:
GlobalDemo.org now ready...
I am satisfied with discussions and international
communications via WDDM.
I wonder if we can go one step longer and make real
changes toward dirrect democracy in the world as example by voting on different
subjects and sending the results to authorities in
different countries and UN? Subjects can be suggested by
anyone, facts about the subjects gathered or/and referred to by anyone, ideas
and solution alternative discussed and suggested by
anybody who is interested of the subject, voting /
refrandoms arranged by WDDM and its members and afterward the results be sended
to authorities who can make real changes.
Are there any other suggestions about how we can progress
to real changes?
Sent: Monday,
October 26, 2009 9:50 PM
To: wddm@world-wide-democracy.net
Subject: Re:
[WDDM] Re: GlobalDemo.org now ready...
Dear Antonio,
It really does. WDDM seems to be perfect for networking with other people
interested in DD.
Perhaps it's because you can take it or leave it, go away for a few months,
come back, give your opinion when and if you want to..
Convenience is very important to people and WDDM have got that right.
However, there is a lot of time that's going to waste, not because the ideas in
here are not valid but because I think there will be a massive new age of
censorship aimed at the Web and we will end up divided and unable/afraid to
exchange "dangerous" ideas. This is coming, there is no question.
Then we will wish we would have DONE something sooner. I wish I was wrong,
missinformed or paranoid.
From: Antonio
Rossin <rossin(at)tin.it>
To: worldcit(at)googlegroups.com
Cc: wddm@world-wide-democracy.net
Sent: Monday, 26 October, 2009
7:53:53
Subject: [WDDM] Re: GlobalDemo.org
now ready...
Hi James,
everything helps.
Anyway, I was thinking about the democratic necessity of
having an overall DD website to collect, co-ordinate and
show ALL our DD activities, proposals, etc., and supposed
the WDDM website already performed this DD function.
Regards,
antonio
James Sadri ha scritto:
> Hi Antonio,
>
> There are direct democracy advocates who are not into global/transnational
democracy and vice-versa, so to me they're not the same thing. Anyway, if you
think we're replicating something, let's find a way to work together.
>
> Just for clarification, *GlobalDemo.org is not a direct democracy
website*, it's not somewhere we vote and make decisions. It somewhere to find
out more, discuss opinions, network and find out how to take action.
>
> We have had this discussion many times along the way and we decided there
were many places where people come together to vote but that this neutral
platform wasn't going to be one of them.
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> J
>
> On Sun, Oct 25, 2009 at 5:52 PM, Antonio Rossin <rossin(at)tin.it> wrote:
>
>
> Hi
>
> it looks like all DD lovers volunteers and activists are
> going to set-up a DD web site and a DD Charter each
> (myself excluded )
>
> antonio
>
>
>
>
> James Sadri ha scritto:
> > Hello friends,
> >
> > After much work (all voluntary) from many people we have
finally
> > arrived at a website that we think serves as a platform
for the
> > various people/groups who make up the global
> > democracy/mundialist/world citizen movement.
> >
> > There will undoubtedly be problems with the site - which
is why
> we are
> > launching it to this list first - but please use the
'feedback'
> tab on
> > the right hand side to help us improve it with your bug
reports and
> > suggestions. There is a little users guide that we're
drawing up for
> > the site, but for the moment let's try and test how
> > intuitive/confusing it is.
> >
> > Almost everything in the site is editable by the
community (that
> means
> > you!) so if you're not happy with a particular section -
change it!
> > Just click on the 'edit' tab at the top of the post.
Don't worry
> > though, previous revisions are automatically stored so
you can't
> > delete things by mistake..
> >
> > We're thinking of hiring some professional designers to
add the
> > finishing touches to the site, but for now it would be
great to get
> > some feedback on how it works and what features you like
or not.
> >
> > Check it out: GlobalDemo.org <http://GlobalDemo.org>
> >
> > _About the site_
> >
> > *Local/Global*
> >
> > The site has been structured to encourage local/national
activity
> > while also being global at the same time. This is
because we believe
> > that although we're dealing with global issues,
local/national
> action
> > is critical to getting things done.
> >
> > So on your 'country page', for example, there is a forum
which shows
> > posts from all over the world which you can add to. You
can however
> > limit it to posts from your country only.
> >
> > Similarly, on country pages there is a sidebar with
information
> about
> > local groups, politicians, etc and their positions
regarding global
> > democracy.
> >
> > *Events*
> >
> > You can view events from your country or elsewhere on
your country
> > page, where you can also add you own events.
> >
> > *Organisations*
> >
> > However, there is also an 'organisations' page which
lists global
> > organisations and initiatives. You can identify yourself
as a
> > supporter of a particular initiative or organisation and
the popular
> > ones are listed on the right.
> >
> > *Library*
> >
> > The 'library' is somewhere where you can read/watch
articles and
> films
> > about global democracy and discuss them in the comments.
You can
> also
> > recommend library items and again popular items will be
shown on the
> > right. The library can be restricted by language too.
> >
> > *Member profiles*
> >
> > As a result of feedback, we made member profiles quite
sophisticated
> > so we can learn more about each other. Each user has a
listing of
> > recommended books and organisations they support as well
as a
> > 'real-life network' where they can show which people on
the site
> they
> > have actually met.
> >
> > *Languages*
> >
> > We have setup the site to be fully translatable, with
the official
> > source language being English. We've got a way to go
with
> translation
> > - so far German is the only language with near complete.
We need
> your
> > help. If you could help translating the site (the text
on
> buttons etc)
> > into other languages please get in touch at
> > <translations(at)globaldemo.org>
.
> > Translators have a little web interface so they can
translate
> the site
> > while they surf.
> >
> > *Who are we?*
> >
> > The GlobalDemo.org webteam is a group of volunteers.
Details are
> here
> > http://globaldemo.org/en/about
. We'd love anyone and everyone to
> > join, so get in touch if you'd like to help out.
> >
> > *Finally...*
> >
> > Thank you to everyone who has helped out along the way
(so far).
> > Everyone is always busy with other projects so I think
we should
> > celebrate the fact that we managed to come together and
achieve this
> > neutral platform for the movement.
> >
> > Thanks to: Alan, Bruce, Chris, Didier, Filip, Fred,
Josep, Ken,
> > Mikael, Rob, Rasmus, Ryan, Rufo, Shimri, Tabs and
everyone else who
> > has contributed at one time or another..
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > GlobalDemo.org Webgroup
> >
>
>
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